Dinara News Thread

[oliviasmith]

Congrats to Dinara! I really wanted her to win it all. I'm not a Dementieva fan at all (personal reasons). Anyway good luck to Dinara at the US Open. She should definitely be considered a favourite!

[coolgirl]

Too bad Dinara didn't win the Olympic Gold

But still she has to be proud of herself..she knocked off one #1-ranked player (Jankovic) and two Chinese (Li and Zheng) along the way to reaching the sixth final in her last seven tournaments. Apparently, she not only ended Henin's career, but she bodysnatched her consistency, too.

[maratsmaiden]

By MICHAEL BRICK
Published: August 24, 2008

She slumped into the room at a manic pace, head low, all gazes averted, 6 feet of tone and bone ducked into reverie with a P.D.A. in her left hand, tapping out last signals as if to deploy some sci-fi cloaking device. Keep it together, keep it together.

Safina, left, won the silver medal in Beijing. Ranked seventh in the world, she is, one opponent said, playing like a No. 1.

Tonight there would be questions about her temper, her rise on the global tennis stage, her efforts to contain the former in furtherance of the latter and, of course, the big daddy of them all, the great taboo, her older brother.

Now her cheeks were flushed. Her hair was wet. Her lips took the shape of a coin slot. She wore red high-waters, loose bracelets and a pink T-shirt declaring “Impossible is Nothing.”

“I would say,” announced Dinara Safina, 22, kid sister to the helplessly combustible Marat Safin, “today luck was on my side.”

Funny how luck works. Sometimes you make it, and all that.

Just an hour earlier, Safina had lost a set to fourth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Afterward, she threw a tennis ball to the court, watched it bounce and then, as if unable to stop herself, before an audience of 10,759, with the legacy of her brother’s spent promise as a backdrop, dropped back, opened up her powerful forehand and sent that nettlesome yellow projectile careering past her opponent’s head, over the advertising placards and right into the gallery of spectators. No one was harmed save Safina herself, who was chastised by the umpire.

But next came the part she would attribute to luck. At the moment when her brother, who once broke 50 rackets in a season, might have started looking for the bottom, Safina instead settled in to take the second set, then the third. Serving hard, hustling and deploying mesmerizing drop shots, she went on to win the tournament in authoritative fashion.

Her victory, picked up on the way to representing Russia at the Olympic Games, extended to 27-3 a streak started at the German Open in May. There she had beaten top-ranked Justine Henin, who soon retired at 25. Had Henin seen a ghost? Such speculation made the rounds only as a joke, but Safina’s legend grew.

At Roland Garros, Safina knock out the newly top-ranked Maria Sharapova, clearing a path to the final. As spring gave way to summer, she appeared in five championship matches on three different surfaces. She won two titles in two weeks, no mean feat in a brutal hardcourt season that felled several contenders.

Heading into the United States Open, she won 15 matches in a row before losing in the gold medal match to her countrywoman Elena Dementieva at the Beijing Olympics. The seventh-ranked Safina, widely regarded as a promising junior who had failed to flower, seemed poised to emerge as a real threat in a field diminished by injuries.

“Since clay-court season, Berlin, she’s playing amazing,” said Victoria Azarenka, who fell to Safina in the semifinals in Montreal. “I think she’s just playing like a No. 1 player in the world.”

There had been a time all this was expected of her. With the twin blessings of height and power and the mixed one of a prominent tennis family, Safina made the Wimbledon junior finals in 2001. As a teenager, she secured four WTA titles.

Then she started making mistakes. She hurt her back. She failed to gain traction in the Grand Slam tournaments. Her development lagged behind the prodigious pace set by her brother, a United States Open winner who was ranked No. 1 at age 20 in 2000 — and no one was quicker to point that out than her brother.

“She has to make a lot of changes to compete with the top players,” Safin told reporters in 2005. “To be able to do that, she needs to be a little bit grown-up woman.”

Oh, to be advised to grow up by Marat Safin. But his assessment was not without merit. Safina was out of shape, failing to concentrate and sinking into the darker mold that destiny had made ready.

“She was living in his shadow,” said Zeljko Krajan, her coach. “And she wants to do better than that, but this is a very big shadow to come out of.”

In April, Safina hired a new fitness coach, Dejan Vojnovic, who like Krajan is from Croatia. A former long jumper, Vojnovic prescribed a course of endurance, speed and agility training, working up to weight lifting. All of Safina’s coaches counseled restraint on the court. And then some grand unknowable something propelled her onto the dominating run that has put the leading players in the world on notice.

“We’ve only started what I think she can be physically,” Vojnovic said.

In this charmed season, Safina’s serve has seemed to abide in the charged summer air while her entire frame tenses and then snaps closed like a trap. Her ground strokes quiver with power. Even her sense of discipline, the detail with the devil in it, has shown improvement. At a crucial moment in Montreal, she faulted away an advantage point only to roar alive on a second-serve ace.

But as she returns to the proving grounds of a Grand Slam event, Safina must still manage a tangled legacy.

“I had no choice but to become a tennis player, but I don’t mind being a tennis player,” she said.

In some ways, she has embraced her double-sided birthright. She has agreed to play mixed doubles with Safin for the first time at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, next year.

Her brother, for his part, has taken to sending congratulatory text messages. He has stopped giving advice, at least publicly. Safina said he held back privately as well. General differences between men’s and women’s tennis rendered such advice unhelpful, she offered by way of explanation.

“Many times, I would say to my brother, ‘You have great things,’ and he’d say to me, ‘You have me as a brother, just enjoy tennis,’ ” she said. “I always wanted to be myself, and now finally the results are coming, and people can know me as Dinara Safina.”




I love the last line... You have me as a brother, just enjoy tennis.... At least we know who he seems to be texting all the time I don't love all the slams on Marat in this article, however

[safin4eva]

Cool article .. thanks!

thanks coolness from menstennsiforums:


Youzhny, Tursunov, Vesnina and Dina in Beijing..

[sabz]

awww nice photo!! Dima writing a blog perhaps?

[safin4eva]

lol yeh I think thats whats hes doing.. looks like a pretty serious blogger!

[TennisMaiden]

Ahh, Dinara looked & played well during the first week of the Open. Here is just one of the shots I got of her.





Not a bad shot, if I do say so myself!

[justsafin]

sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3564053&campaign=rss&source=TENNISHeadlines

Exhaustion forces Safina to pull out of Fed Cup final
Reuters
Updated: September 1, 2008, 7:15 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Russian Dinara Safina ruled herself out of next week's Fed Cup final against Spain on Monday because of exhaustion.

"No, I'm not playing Fed Cup," Safina said after reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-0 win over German qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

"I flew from the States to China, from China back to the States. So I better take care of myself and prepare for the rest of the season," she said.

The Russian world No. 7, who has endured a grueling schedule since May and reached six finals in her last seven tournaments, had to be persuaded by her coach to take the court on Monday because she was so tired.

"I didn't expect to win because I was just so exhausted," she said. "I finished the warmup and I just said 'I cannot push myself anymore,' I could not stop from crying."

Safina said it made no sense to switch to clay for the Sept. 13-14 tie in Madrid for one week in the middle of her regular hard-court season.

Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev is already resigned to field a second-string team next week since Olympic champion Elena Dementieva is unlikely to commit herself to the tie either.

"The Fed Cup final ends on Sept. 14 and the following day a big tournament starts in Tokyo with a lot of ranking points at stake," Tarpishchev said Monday in Moscow.

"Dementieva and Safina have a real chance to become world No. 1 so we might have to give both of them a break from the final," Tarpishchev said.

The Russians will also be without three other top-10 players; Maria Sharapova, Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze.

"Sharapova has a shoulder injury, Zvonareva has pain in her wrist and Chakvetadze is not fully fit at the moment," said Tarpishchev.

On Monday he named only two players, world No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova and doubles specialist Elena Vesnina, in his Fed Cup squad.

Russia is bidding to win its fourth Fed Cup title in the last five years.

[coolgirl]

Sept 2, 2008 5:28:18 GMT 3 TennisMaiden said:

Ahh, Dinara looked & played well during the first week of the Open. Here is just one of the shots I got of her.





Not a bad shot, if I do say so myself!

wow, great shot !!
thanks for sharing, hope there are more

[coolgirl]

The Star-Ledger Sports News Article:

How's this for a Knute Rockne speech? Zeljko Krajan, Dinara Safina's coach, told his exhausted player before she went on court that if she wanted to just go through the motions and tank the match, well, then, it was okay with him.

The result? Safina cruised to a 7-5, 6-0 victory over German Anna-Lena Groenefeld, breezing past the qualifier in 1 hour, 15 minutes.

"My coach said, 'Just go out there and if you want to just hit -- no, he say if you want you can tank," Safina said. "Well, once I go on court, I'm not going to tank."

Not even close, and now she will play the Italian Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals.

But before yesterday's match, Safina was in tears following her morning practice session, so distraught over her increasing fatigue. The No. 6 seed, who surged into the tournament after reaching the finals in six of her past seven tournaments, said she was on the verge of total exhaustion.

"Honestly, I didn't expect that I was going to win because I was just so exhausted," the Russian said. "After the warm-up I just started to cry. I said, 'I cannot push myself any more.' He said, 'We know you are not a machine.'"

Krajan also seemed to be weary of Safina's drama, at least according to her.

"He told me again, 'Just please don't show me any emotions, like these negative emotions,'" she recalled. "'If you want, don't show even positive. Just go on the court and do whatever you can this day. If it's 20 percent left from your body, give us 20 percent.'"

That's great stuff, reminiscent of Gene Hackman's character in "Hoosiers."

They should replay Krajan's speech on the scoreboard at Shea Stadium when anyone wants to get a rally going.

"Come on guys, just go out and tank if you want. It's okay with me. Go out there and give us 20 percent!"

[coolgirl]

Little sis making big headway on WTA Tour
ESPN.com

NEW YORK -- Sibling rivalry can be a powerful dynamic, charged with all kinds of weird energy and profound emotions. Often -- setting Cain and Abel aside -- it's a good thing. Sometimes, it can inspire greatness.

Was it a really coincidence that three years after Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl and was named Most Valuable Player his younger brother Eli, the New York Giants' quarterback, equaled that accomplishment?

Is it mere chance that Dinara Safina finds herself facing the plausible possibility of replicating her brother Marat Safin's incandescent breakthrough at the U.S. Open eight years ago?

"I think this would be my dream come true, the most amazing thing that can happen," Safina said earlier this week.

Safina is into the third round after Thursday's routine 6-4, 6-3 victory over Roberta Vinci of Italy at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The 22-year-old Russian hasn't put together the ridiculous runs of Rafael Nadal, who has won 39 of his past 40 matches, or the 20-match streak of Juan Martin Del Potro. But in the unsettled world of women's tennis, she comes in with the most momentum, having won 17 of 18 matches.

Her breakthrough season, crowned by a finals appearance at the French Open, has already vaulted the siblings Safin/Safina to the top of the modern tennis hierarchy. A victory here would give her a career-first major title and, if things work out, the No. 1 ranking.

It could actually happen. Safina is one of six women with a chance to emerge with the top ranking. If she wins the tournament and Jelena Jankovic fails to reach the final, Safina will mirror her brother's U.S. Open title and ascension to the No. 1 ranking.

Talk about your unlikely sibling symmetry.

On Thursday, Safina credited her coach, Zeljko Krajan, with teaching her to keep her roiling emotions -- a sometimes endearing family trait -- out of view.

"I would play the match and I would show [my emotions] to everybody," she said. "'You see? I'm trying hard, and it's just not going my way.' Then I would kind of show it to everybody.

"He would say, 'You don't need to show me. I can see it. And don't show [it] to your opponent. Just go out there and do what you can.'"

Krajan started out as Safina's hitting partner and second coach last fall, but when Heinz Gunthardt couldn't devote his full attention to Safina, Krajan became her full-time traveling coach in February.

Safina clearly is fond of her brother, but Krajan admits he was a tough act to follow.

"He has great charisma -- people love him," Krajan said. "It was very tough growing up in that shadow, because his shadow is very big. Coming up in juniors people always said, 'Maybe she can do the same thing as Marat.'

"She struggled with it for years. It's always going to be there, but now it is changing. Before, it was, 'This is the sister of Marat.' Now, it's 'This is Dinara Safina.'"

Safina turned professional in 2000 at the age of 14. Within four years, she cracked the top 50 but idled there, making only incremental improvement. She had all the shots but too often she came up short in the thinking game. Most observers trace her new confidence back to Berlin in May when she ran the table, beating Justine Henin, Serena Williams and, in the final, Elena Dementieva.

Krajan says her confidence level began to change a month earlier in Miami, when she beat Lindsay Davenport in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.

"She was a good player before this year, top 15, but the mental side was the weaker point," Krajan said. "Before she was not believing that she could win five, six matches at the level. Now she knows she can do this."

It all came together at the French Open, where she defeated Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dementieva -- all Russians, all top-10 players -- to reach the final. She lost in straight sets to Ana Ivanovic, but gained another magnitude of confidence.

"Somehow, I started going out there and started to believe I'm a player and I can compete with them," she explained. "Maybe before it was missing. Then, I could not give them answers, but now I go out there and for their game I can always give them my answer, my game."

Even though he's now ranked only No. 44 in the world, Safin has managed to overshadow his sister here, although a number of experts are picking her to win. He ran afoul of the chair umpire in his first-round match after a disputed foot fault and was enormously entertaining in his postmatch news conference.

When asked about his sister, he said, "I think if she will do everything opposite of what I've been doing throughout the years, she will be No. 1 in the world for a long time. That's as simple as it is."

Safina was only 14 when Marat won his first Grand Slam, a startling, straight-sets destruction of Pete Sampras. She didn't see it; she was in Valencia, Spain, but without cable television. Later, she heard the result from friends.

"This tournament is special for me because of my brother," Safina said. "That's why for me, it's always nice to come back here."

If there is a new pressure at work on Safina, it wasn't evident on Thursday. After her match she sat cross-legged, leaning against a wall outside the women's locker room. Safina had a phone in each hand and was actually working them both at the same time.

After her postmatch interview, she spotted her coach speaking with a reporter. Making the hush sign from behind, she gleefully snuck up on him, grabbed his shoulders and shrieked in his ear.

Krajan, who tried not to smile, shrugged, rolled his eyes and said, "So, as you can see, she's on a roll right now."

She's tired after a long run to the final at the Beijng Olympics, where she lost to Dementieva, and hasn't played particularly well in her first two matches. But with a level women's field that has seen no one separate herself from the peloton, Safina has as good a chance as anyone.

And if she wins? If she lifts her first Grand Slam trophy and earns the No. 1 ranking?

"I'm still the little sister," Safina said. "Doesn't matter. I think forever I'm going to be his little sister."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[coolgirl]

" Safina had a phone in each hand and was actually working them both at the same time. "

brother and sister are definitely cellphone freaks, lol!!

[safin4eva]

Sept 2, 2008 5:28:18 GMT 3 TennisMaiden said:

Ahh, Dinara looked & played well during the first week of the Open. Here is just one of the shots I got of her.





Not a bad shot, if I do say so myself!

Thanks Tennismaiden for the fantastic shot of Dina!! Hope to see some more from the tourney!!

" Safina had a phone in each hand and was actually working them both at the same time. "
brother and sister are definitely cellphone freaks, lol!!

LOL!! Yes definetly!! ;D ;D ;D

[safin4eva]

Transcript of Dinas Interview at US Open:
From US Open OS:

Q. Was it good to have a relatively short match, an easy match, considering this is such a long tournament?

DINARA SAFINA: Yeah, especially today. Honestly, going on the court I didn't expect that I'm going to win because I was just so exhausted.

I finish the warm‑up and I just said, I cannot push anymore myself. Then suddenly I started to warm up before the match, just to get warm, and I was like, Okay, I'm starting to feel better.

My coach said, Just go out there, and if you want like just hit. No, he say if you want you can think. Well, once I go on court, I'm not going to think.

So I just went on court and said, Okay, I'm going to try what I can do today. And slowly I started to feel like, okay, like I still can push myself.

And then I just ‑‑ today I really happy that I won. Doesn't matter, like maybe I didn't play my best, but that I went through. This was the most important, because now I have one day off, and hopefully I can be 100% for my next one.


Q. Are you learning about how to conduct yourself in those long tournaments at the Grand Slams, maybe going to bed early or eating at different times?

DINARA SAFINA: No. I mean, I always have the same routine. I always go early to bed. I mean, at 9:30 I'm already in the hotel room, so nobody will see me later than this.

Dinner, every time at 7:30, so it's always the same routine.


Q. I know a year ago you were talking about how you were suffering from chronic fatigue. Have you changed your diet at all to help your game?

DINARA SAFINA: No. Now I'm taking much more care about the food. This is the most important thing for me now.

I know what I can eat and what I cannot eat and when and what, so I'm taking really good care of it.


Q. Can we clarify what your coach told you before?

DINARA SAFINA: No. I mean, after the match ‑‑ after the warm‑up I just started to cry. I said, I cannot push anymore myself. He said, We know that you're not a machine. Just go out there and don't thinking.

He told me again, Just please don't show me any emotions, like these negative emotions. If you want, don't show even positive. Just go on the court and do whatever you can this day.

If it's 20% left from your body, just give this 20%. Don't use another percent just throwing the balls around and shouting.

He said, Whatever you have, just try to concentrate and put it into the game. So that's what I did today.


Q. Were you really crying?

DINARA SAFINA: Ask my coach. I could not stop from crying, yeah. So I guess he knows how to handle my emotions.


Q. Neither of you kind of served well the first set, and it took a couple of set points to finally win the first set. You had such an incredible summer, do you think you mentally basically improved in surviving to win the matches you're supposed to win?

DINARA SAFINA: I think I'm much ‑‑ as I've said, like I grew up I think a lot in the mind. A year ago I would not be able to do these kind of things. I would already ‑‑ maybe even the match before against Baczinsky I would already lose. But somehow I started like to control better myself.

I mean, of course, like as you have a trust in the coach, you know, so ‑‑ and, you know, he understands me and I understand him, so that's why somehow it's easier that I can express my emotions.

Because not many maybe coaches, they want to hear that like you are tired. Or maybe they will not believe you that you are tired. They will say, No, this is excuse because you don't want to lose.

He's like, I don't need excuse that you don't want to lose. Of course if I'll go on court I'll want to win. Through these like talking I try to kind of empty myself. Like, Okay, I don't have anything like that is bothering me inside. So I just go out there and try to focus only on the ball.


Q. You obviously won the US Open Series. Did amazing in Beijing. Do you almost see yourself as a potential favorite for this tournament?

DINARA SAFINA: I mean, so many good players now still playing, so I really ‑‑ you know, I just want to concentrate on myself and just one match at a time and doesn't matter.


Q. Do you think about the No. 1? Because I guess if you get to the final and the right scenario is there you could be No. 1.

DINARA SAFINA: Me and the rest of the ‑‑ who is going to be there also. It's open. Really, it's not only me. Right now Dementieva is playing really good tennis. She's also one to watch. Williams sisters and Jankovic. Whoever left in the draw has chance. Let's see who really deserve that spot.


Q. You've had so many success this summer. Does it seem like you've been playing forever? The hard court season is pretty hard on people, plus going China to play.

DINARA SAFINA: Not really. But I don't know, sometimes you ‑‑ wherever you come you feel like, I think I'm already here for one year. Like really, I don't know. It feels like you come somewhere and you're already like you know everything and you stay here like already one year. So I don't know.


Q. The Williams sisters, not so good at the French and fantastic at Wimbledon, and not so good at the Olympics. How do you have any idea how they're going to play here and what to expect from them?

DINARA SAFINA: I mean, of course, behind the crowd, you know, that's what motivates them. That's what they're playing for. They love playing here and they love the crowd.

They're really enjoying playing US Open. They are always very dangerous here.


Q. But they haven't played very well here. Especially Venus played much better at Wimbledon. Neither one has been in the finals for six years.

DINARA SAFINA: Well, there is always first time for everything in life.


Q. Looking ahead to the Fed Cup, the final against Spain, do you think you're going to be playing?

DINARA SAFINA: No, I'm not playing Fed Cup.


Q. Can you explain why you're not playing?

DINARA SAFINA: I think myself and my body is much more important than just go out there and just force yourself.

I mean, when you're having so many travels ‑‑ I also flew in States to China, from China back to States. Body is very sensitive in these kind of things, so I better take care of myself and prepare for the rest of the season.

And then maybe it force myself ‑‑ I think they're playing on clay court, and really doesn't fit anywhere in my schedule.

In this case, I will think a little bit more about myself.


Q. What are thinking about when the US Open is finally over? Is there something you want to do, sleep or lie on the beach, sit in a cafe?

DINARA SAFINA: Not much, because I have Tokyo. So try to get as much rest. Not going to be many days, but just to recover. I guess to enjoy a little bit, because when you play ‑‑ like stress on the match takes so many energy, so I will be one week, five days. I will try to enjoying as much as every day and get ready for the next tournament.


Q. Looking ahead you might play Amélie next in the quarterfinals.

DINARA SAFINA: She's a set down.


Q. You played her couple years ago and you lost in that the quarterfinal. Do you feel like you have a little bit of a mental edge this time if she does come through?

DINARA SAFINA: I don't care. I think I don't know. Still I have to see who is the winner, so I don't to think it is going to be Amélie when Pennetta is going to win.


Q. There are only two Russian women left in the draw, which is the lowest total of all the Grand Slams this year. Do you have any thoughts on why that's happening at this tournament?

DINARA SAFINA: I don't know. I really don't follow. Actually, when you said it's only two left I think, and really it's only two left. I really don't follow the draw. Maybe next tournament going to be more girls. I don't know; I don't care.


Q. Through all the success this summer, what has been your happiest day? Has it been a match or has it been going shopping?

DINARA SAFINA: Happiest day? Every day is a happy day. Why it has to be? Doesn't matter. When you wake up it's already happy.


Q. Marat obviously won his first Grand Slam here at the Open. How much would it mean to make it your first one, too?

DINARA SAFINA: I already answered this 100 times. It will be the dream come true.

[sabz]

pretty in pink!! there is definitly a mobile addiction problem in the Safin family lol